


Arc 2 - Discovery

by Joe_Reaves



Series: Huminals [14]
Category: Primeval
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not Human, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Animals, Dark, Dubious Consent, F/M, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-14
Updated: 2010-04-14
Packaged: 2017-10-08 22:59:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/80376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joe_Reaves/pseuds/Joe_Reaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Helen travels into the desert to make a discovery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arc 2 - Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> References to previous dub-con sex.

Helen stretched out on the deck of the fishing boat and enjoyed the feeling of the hot sun warming her fur. The boat journey would be her last chance to be comfortable on this expedition until she left Expatorio again and goodness only knew when that would be.

The information she'd managed to get from the archive, using Nick's passwords, had filled in the last gaps and now she was certain she knew where the colony ship had landed. She could only hope that the dry heat of Expiatorio had helped preserve the remains. Metal probably wouldn't have survived long in a wetter environment but the desert would actually work in her favour in this case. It was also the main reason no one had been able to find it before, well that and the fact they were looking on the wrong continent.

It was a pity she couldn't have brought Nick with her on this trip. She'd have been willing to share the glory with him, but he didn't deserve it, not after she'd found him fucking that half cat. If he'd just been content to keep pining over her she'd have told him about the ship and let him come with her.

Finding he'd moved on had been a shock. She'd thought that after the way she left him, he'd still have been licking his wounds, even after all these years. That had been her intention when she'd told him she'd only married him for his access to the university archives. She'd been sure he would stay alone after that until she could make her great discovery and then she'd take him back. She'd meant him to be so grateful that she wanted him back that he'd never argue with her again. Every time she'd been to Marrakech in the years since she'd left, she'd checked on him and he'd always been alone, but this time she'd seen him with that cat instead.

It must have been the cat's fault, she was sure of it. He'd clearly used all that grace and poise, not to mention those pretty blue eyes, to seduce Nick and make him forget about her. Well, she'd put paid to that. By the time she'd done with him the cat had burnt all his bridges with Nick. She licked her lips at the memory. He'd been fun to play with though. All those sleek muscles and he had very skilled hands too. The real treat had been the look in his eyes when she'd fucked him though, the fear and humiliation had been an incredible turn on. She shifted in arousal at the memory. He wouldn't dare put his hands on her Nick in future.

She closed her eyes and let her mind wander, imagining how Nick would react when she came back. Even the University would have to admit she was right. They'd be forced to give her a job. She'd be the first huminal on staff, as far as she knew. Really her Nick had been the first but no one knew that, he hid his background like it was some kind of dirty little secret. But they would have to employ her when she found the ship and then she'd go and visit Nick. She was sure he'd be so grateful that someone really wanted him after the way she'd left and then the way Stephen had betrayed him, that he'd do anything she wanted. Not that she was going to have many demands. He would have to be more agreeable than when they'd been married but other than that she didn't want to change him. She liked him just the way he was, even if he was messy and bad tempered from time to time. He was adorable and she wanted him to stay just the way he was.

She did feel a bit guilty about what she'd done to his little boyfriend, but it wasn't her fault. If he'd just kept his paws off her Nick she wouldn't have had to hurt him. Nick belonged to her, even if he didn't know it.

She wasn't sure how it had happened. She'd meant to seduce him and then use his access to the archives to find what she needed and then she'd have been gone, but somehow he'd got under her skin. She could say she'd married him because it meant longer term access to the archives, even now she could still use his passwords to get into the files or on the rare occasions he changed them she could use the terminal in his office instead, but that was just an added benefit really. She'd married him because he was sweet and kind and he seemed to really want her around. He made her feel like she belonged instead of being the outsider. She'd been an outsider in her clan because she was motherless and then an outsider at the university because there were so few huminals there. She enjoyed feeling like she belonged, but it wasn't enough. She wanted everyone to know her name. Her clan, her classmates, everyone who'd ever looked down on her, was going to know her name and they were going to wish they'd been nicer to her.

She opened her eyes. The ocean sounded different ... She could hear it lapping up against the land; they were almost there. Shouldering her pack she walked to the front of the ship, watching as they slowly lowered the boat back to the surface of the water so that she could jump out. She liked these hover boats. They were nothing like the 'traditional' fishing boats she'd seen being used in one of the huminal settlements once. Those actually rested on the surface of the water the whole time instead of hovering. They went up and down with the waves and she wrinkled her nose in disgust at the idea. Nick had thought they were brilliant but she'd almost thrown up just thinking about them.

Tossing a bag of coins to the captain she jumped overboard and waded through the shallow water to the shore. The first time she'd made this trip, she'd made the mistake of paying the captain in advance and it was only the promise of more money that had got him to take her where she'd wanted to go instead of trying to toss her overboard halfway. Not that his pathetic crew of weak little males would have been able to manage it but she hadn't wanted to get into an all out brawl in the middle of the ocean on a boat she didn't know how to operate.

She savoured the feeling of the cool water as she moved through it; it was probably going to be the last time she saw a large body of water until she was ready to leave. She didn't mind the lack of drinking water too much – hyenas rarely drank much so she could carry anything she needed – but everything was so dry and dusty and by the time you'd been there a couple of days there was sand in every piece of clothing and you'd just about sell your soul for a bath and a chance to do some laundry.

Once she was out of the water she sat on a handy rock and dried her feet off so she could put her boots on. She'd rather travel without them because she could cover the ground faster, but the sand in the desert got so hot that you had to wear boots or get burnt. Rising to her feet again, she put her hat on an started walking. She had a map and a compass and she'd marked the coordinates that she was certain marked the landing site and the easiest route to get there. It would take couple of weeks, she thought, to cover the distance. Maybe more if she had to stop and hunt. Fortunately she could eat almost anything and she knew from experience the little green flying lizard things were surprisingly tasty if you could catch them.

She walked all day, every day, stopping only to catch the mini-dragons or to make a meal of some insects. On the rare occasions she came across a waterhole she would refill her water bottles and gather up some of the vegetation to supplement her diet. She was confident that no one would be able to find the ship in future without her help because the route was just too dangerous. Most huminals would starve or run out of water before they ever reached their destination.

Finally, she knew she was close to the spot she'd marked on her map. Now she had to slow her progress, her eyes scouring the desert for any sign of the ship. As it happened she was standing on it before she even realised she'd found it.

The ship's silhouette was a gradual curve and with all the dust that had settled on it in the last few centuries, she'd thought it was a hill until she reached the top and saw the buildings just beyond it. Quickly scrambling down the far side, she looked around in amazement. As well as the large ship, which was where she was expecting the laboratories and the main computer to be, there were about fifty smaller buildings. Some of them looked like they were pre-fabricated and had been brought to the planet on the ship; others were more makeshift affairs, obviously cobbled together from packing crates and anything else that wasn't needed from the inside of the ship.

It was getting late so she decided to leave exploring the colony ship until the next day and instead peeked through the windows of some of the smaller buildings. Some of them were obviously dwellings of some kind and she theorised that maybe there were too many colonists for them all to sleep in the ships so they'd brought the pre-fabs with them and then as the population grew in the years before the settlement was abandoned they'd had to make more out of the only materials that they had to hand. She couldn't wait to lead a proper academic expedition back to this place after she made her discovery public. They could learn so much about the earliest days of their planet. Nick would be bouncing off the walls with excitement about everything he could learn about huminals. F they were really lucky they' be able to get into the computers and access the records of the original colonists.

Looking through the window of one of the smaller buildings, Helen could see what had once been a bedroom and she decided it would make a good enough place for her to sleep as well. She pushed the door open and looked around. The bedding and the mattress had gone but there was still a bed frame in the corner of the room and shelves along the wall. On one of them, forlornly gathering dust was a small metal toy. She picked it up and wiped it clean. Like some of the buildings it had been made of scraps and leftovers from the ship, but it was a model car of some kind. She smiled and put it back. It looked like when they'd moved out of this house a child had accidentally left it behind and she was the first person to see it since then. Incredible.

Pulling her sleeping bag out of her pack she spread it on the floor and stretched out. It would be strange to sleep inside after the last couple of weeks under the stars, but even in the middle of nowhere, with no one around and no predators that would dare to take on a hyena, she felt more comfortable sleeping inside now that she had the opportunity. It must be her human side making itself known, she thought. She should probably make a point of sleeping outside just to prove that her weakness didn't control her, but no one would ever know and it was comfortable in here, so she curled up on the sleeping bag and closed her eyes. Tomorrow would come soon enough and then she could go inside the colony ship and take the pictures that would prove she'd made the biggest archaeological discovery in the history of Inicio.

Waking up as the sun peeked through the windows of her temporary home she stretched and smiled. She hurriedly packed her sleeping bag up again and jumped to her feet. This was it, the moment she had been working towards for her entire life. She almost ran outside, feeling incredibly excited. It was like unwrapping a birthday present and for once she knew it would be something she really wanted.

She examined the door of the ship carefully and flipped open the control panel. Hoping there was still enough energy left in the ship's cells she pulled two of the wires out and touched the tips together. There was a crackle and a tiny spark an the door slid open. She grinned and stepped inside the ship, knowing that no one had been here in centuries. A frisson of excitement ran down her spine and then suddenly, as if it was reacting to her presence, the lights in the hallway came on, slowly fading into life and illuminating the inside of the ship. She took another step, looking around in amazement, wanting to remember this moment. She'd done it; she was going to be famous.


End file.
